Nashville attorney Jane Branstetter Stranch has won approval from the U.S. Senate for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Vanderbilt University Law School reports this afternoon. She will fill the position created when Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey assumed senior status. A date has not yet been set for Stranch to be sworn in.

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The plaintiff has appealed the trial court's dismissal of his medical malpractice action. Because the plaintiff did not file a timely notice of appeal from the order of dismissal, we
dismiss the appeal.

Women partners in law firms are no less productive than their male counterparts when it comes to generating revenue per lawyer, but the women partners are paid less, a new study says. According to the study, conducted by professors at Temple University Beasley School of Law and the University of Texas, the average gross revenue of firms with the highest percentages of women lawyers was about $20 million higher than firms with the lowest percentage of women lawyers. But the revenue per lawyer at these firms dropped by about $120,000 per lawyer. "We found that the average compensation for lawyers at a firm goes down as the proportion of women at a firm rises, indicating that women in all positions at a firm are paid less than their male counterparts," a study author said in a press release.

In an editorial, The New York Times gives a dire warning for upcoming judicial elections, saying that
"well-heeled special interests have become a dominant force" in state judicial races.
"The ugly trend toward corrosive big money judicial elections is apt to continue in the upcoming midterm elections, when hot judicial fights are forecast in several states, including Alabama, Michigan and Illinois," the paper says. "The United States Supreme Court hardly helped matters with its ignominious ruling in January allowing free corporate and union spending in political campaigns, including in judicial races."

Known as "the original civil rights photographer," Ernest C. Withers was an insider who'd covered it all, from the Emmett Till murder that jump-started the movement in 1955 to the Little Rock school crisis, the integration of Ole Miss and the 1968 sanitation strike that brought Martin Luther King to Memphis and his death. Today
the Commercial Appeal reveals a covert, previously unknown side of the beloved photographer who died in 2007 at age 85. It turns out he was an
FBI informant -- evidence of how far the agency went to spy on private citizens in Memphis during one of the nation's most volatile periods.

Tennessee's Insurance Commissioner and lawyer, Leslie A. Newman, answers questions
about the role of states in implementing health-care reform and the recent crackdown on bogus health insurance. She is winding up her job, as she prepares to step down when Gov. Bredesen leaves office in January.

In an opinion
issued last week, the state attorney general has ruled that public schools cannot require that students pay a fee for field trips.
The ruling says the requirement violates the section of the state Constitution dealing with a free public education.

Who is at fault for the judicial-vacancy standoff is only half the story, writes a columnist for Slate.com. Saying there is "clearly an enthusiasm gap," for the crucial need for judges, Dahlia Lithwick points out that "The real problem lies in convincing Americans that it matters."

In the 8th District congressional race, Democrat Roy Herron's latest television ad accuses his Republican opponent, Stephen Fincher, of breaking the law and supporting tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs. Fincher's campaign, in a news release, called the ad a "false and negative attack."

Retired 21st Judicial District Judge James "Jim" Weatherford, 79, died Sept. 10, at his home in Lawrenceburg after a long illness. Visitation and funeral services were held today (Sept. 13).
Interment is at Glenwood Cemetery in Columbia.
Weatherford graduated from Cumberland School of Law in 1957, passing the bar in 1958. He ran for Circuit Judge of the 11th (now 22nd) judicial district and was elected and sworn into office in 1978.
In 1998, he was appointed to senior judge status where he served the judiciary traveling the state until he fully retired in 2006. In 2000 Judge Weatherford was chosen by his peers as Judge of the Year.

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made to Lawrenceburg First United Methodist Church (212 Waterloo Street, Lawrenceburg 38464), the Judge James L. Weatherford Memorial Scholarship, in care of the Lawrence County Education Foundation (P.O. Box 357, Lawrenceburg 38464) or Vanderbilt University Children's Hospital.

Memphis attorney Charles R. "Ronnie" Curbo, 55, died Friday. A practicing
attorney in Memphis for 30 years, he received his law degree from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Funeral services were held today (Sept. 13), at Brantley Funeral Home in Olive Branch, Miss. Interment is in Bethlehem Cemetery.

On Sept. 8, the Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended the law license of Memphis lawyer Marvin Posner, pursuant to Section 4.3 of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9. The Board of Professional Responsibility petitioned the Court to temporarily suspend his law license because of his failure to respond to a complaint of ethical misconduct.